At the end of last month Panama’s Tocumen International Airport ✈️ announced an ambitious expansion of its Terminal 2. In 2026, the airport expects to start the bidding process for the construction of between 10 and 12 new gates, increasing the total capacity to 66 piers.
The investment will exceed $40 million and addresses the projected growth 📈 in passenger traffic the coming years (8% annually), expected to exceed 40 million annually in the next decade.
Last year, Tocumen handled 19.2 million passengers, and looking at the performance of the first five months of this year, it is estimated that by the end of 2025, the number of 21 million passengers will be surpassed.
The new expansion to facilitate the growth will only be dedicated to boarding gates and not to commercial areas, as there already are enough avaiable in Terminal 2, according to Tocumen’s General Manager José Ruiz. He attributes the strong performance of the past months to the air connectivity model offered by Tocumen Airport as a strategic gateway for tourism, trade, and international passenger traffic.
New Connections
In recent weeks, new connections to and from Tocumen have been added, with the resumption of operations by Aeromexico offering direct flights from/to Mexico City and the start of operations by Condor with direct flights to/from Frankfurt, Germany. This in addition to Air Europa’s increase in weekly flights between Spain and Panama to 7, new routes to the U.S. by Copa Airlines and United Airlines and the restoration of commercial flights between Panama and Venezuela.
💡Keep an eye on out on the Panama Compra website to find newly published Tocumen Airport tenders